NEC

NEC have announced a new netbook, the LaVie Light Lui Mobile, an Atom N280 machine with the usual 10.1-inch 1024 x 600 display. There's nothing much to differentiate this from the sea of other Atom netbooks, frankly; the best you'll get is NEC's own Lui Remote Desktop system, basically a branded VNC client.

Could someone please ping NEC and remind them that we're drowning in Tegra, Ion and Snapdragon loveliness at Computex and Intel's Atom N270 simple won't cut it any more? NEC have announced a new netbook series, the LaVie Light BL300, using the N280 processor and a choice of HDD or SSD.

The life of a super-skinny netbook is never straightforward. Just when you think you're set for a simple photoshoot, with journalists pawing at your 15.8mm chassis, along come Tech-On! and perform an impromptu teardown. That's been the fate of the NEC VersaPro VS, the Intel Atom Z540 based 10.2-inch netbook we saw earlier this week.

NEC have unveiled a new netbook, and when it comes to style the super-skinny VersaPro VS has Sony's VAIO P firmly in its sights. Based around Intel's Atom Z540 processor, a 64GB SSD and 10.2-inch 1280 x 768 display, the 15.8mm thick netbook weighs just 725g.

NEC released an updated to their LCD2490WUXi2 display today in an effort to boost the color on this 24-inch LCD display. As a part of the MultiSync 90 series, NEC hasn't updated these models in a while, so this is a welcome announcement.

NEC have developed a 32Mb MRAM chip that, thanks to the company's efforts to miniturize the control circuits, allows 73-percent of a memory macro's area to be allocated to memory cells. The MRAM chip, which is intended for SoC (System-on-Chip) products such as those found in embedded and mobile devices, is also compatible with asynchronous SRAM.

NEC has announced a 46-inch MultiSync digital signage X461UN for commercial large format display. Unlike the typical professional LCDs in the market, the new MultiSync is groundbreaking with an ultra thin screen bezel that’s measured at a mere 7.3mm, and it’s configurable of up to 10x10 matrices to deploy a seamless video wall at a total surface area of approximately 645 square foot screen real estate! (Pic shown actual display with 2x2 conf.)

It's not a good day for a career in the tech industry, as multiple job cuts and proposed cuts are reported, including some from big names like Google. According to the search giant's own blog, positions in both recruiting and engineering are at risk, with the former seeing 100 jobs cut outright, while the latter involves the closure (and potential for relocation) of offices in Austin, Texas; Trondheim, Norway; and Lulea, Sweden. Google are hoping that the 70 engineers involved will be able to relocate rather than leave the company.

Meanwhile, Motorola have scythed 4,000 jobs, three-quarters of which are from the company's handset division, for a total of 6-percent of their global operations. It's part of an attempt to staunch the company's gushing cash reserves; the Q4 estimates suggest a 7 to 8 cent per share loss. Overall, Motorola has now shed 7,000 staff.